Koe :: [a growing collection of events]
by Flashfire
Summary: After consideration, writing large amounts of fanfiction has become hard to do any more. So, I thought up something else. The 'One-Hour' Collection is a sequence of events/stories, where each 'chapter' took 1 hour to write. Ch.4 newly added!
1. The Wanderer

The Wanderer Koe : The Story Of a Traveller  
  
Part of the 'One-Hour' series - fanfiction designed to maximize creativity, and get things done, at the same time.  
  
This series is a work in progress.. By setting an amount of time, and writing during it daily, I can actually get things done. Maybe.  
  
So, without further wait - Koe; the story of a traveller, and the many things that happen in his wake.  
  
  
  
__For Meg, and for a mini-story that no-one could remember  
  
  
The Wanderer  
  
  
As he walked on towards the city, time seemed to slow down around him.. It flew with him, diverging itself around his very person, in some sort of warped model of air resistance..  
But there was nothing special about the guy. You probably saw thousands of him every day. Just a simple person, clothed to the nines in a black shawl, brown trousers, and sporting a tail that would make any normal raichu look about in envy, and wonder what the hell it's mother did to stunt the growth of her son's tail..  
  
~That was the danger~, he, Koe, told himself. ~People proud with what they are, and what they have built up. Like this city I edge towards. And those like me.. well, we just get along, somehow..~  
  
It was surprisingly docile outside the city. A low tree slipped away it's foliage, the sign of an autumn well in season, and a winter soon to descend.. Yet the grass underfoot was a near-brown; scorched, by too much sun, and not enough water; it was not an area that rain took a liking to, and so it's presence was not graced upon the area.  
  
  
Up the top of the low tree, there was a single child, for no reason sitting and enjoying a view.. A loose wind blew some more leaves from the branch he was sat upon. But he was watching the figure. And it hadn't seen him, but he was staring at the tail, which wavered ever so slightly in the wind. It was out of place; this scene in it's entirety was, as well. But he watched.. a child so young has no idea of conformity, and he can think what he very well wants to.  
  
Ever since the days when the scholars talked about establishing a secure bond with your pokemon.. It would serve you well to do so, they say, and for the most part, they were right. And times got better. Technology increased more then it was ever meant to. And pokemon.. well, they benefited, as well..  
  
Until things were identified as good as they could be. The well trained ones would do anything on command, and enjoy it; indeed, they didn't -need- to be commanded, for their thoughts and their trainers would, more often then not, tally right to the nose. Some philosophers had to ask the question.. Indeed, who was on top, when the thoughts of the master and his pokemon were no different to one another..?  
  
The answer was discovered very suddenly. When a patient, a female, arrived in some low-town hospital in a barren desert, seeking advice for an 'unusual growth'. This growth was revealed to a curious doctor, who promptly wondered where to direct the patient after that..  
  
No-one had ever thought how to document the appearance of a Persian tail on a human, and no-one could explain it, either. Some people blamed random chance. Others blamed a higher deity, for reasons undisclosed.. And a very scant few, mostly the thinkers.. They attributed it to a subconscious want of that person. And they were half right.  
  
~I know the story..~ he reassured himself as he went on.. ~The ability of humans to match thoughts with their pokemon was not a fluke, at all. They couldn't prove it, but whatever of that girl's head was Persian was lacking a tail to flick, and to knock in people's faces.. And so, her mind obliged, as sudden as they come...~  
  
A stronger wind caught the child unawares, and he lost his seating.. With a rather painful-sounding crunch, he fell onto another branch, which gave way, depositing him on the floor. He could only have been five or six, with the as yet undeveloped blond hair and blue eyes.. Some hallmarks of a cleft palate were visible, but only to a carefully trained specialist's toothcomb eye.  
  
From his position, Koe could have heard a pin drop in the next county. The rai looked towards the fallen kid, and went over.. here a slightly dazed kid was staring around, and about, and in many variegated colours.. until his eyes focused on the figure that stood above him then.  
  
Koe was dark haired; not always, but it was part of his ever progressing 'evolution', as his Raichu had put it some time earlier.  
{ It's not me to blame, Koe.. You know full well it takes two. If you'd learn to take it as a pleasant occurrence, things would come a lot smoother.. }  
That's what he'd said. And Koe, who once was a rather light person, had become accustomed to the dark and slightly 'lived-in' presence that he held right now.. His tail, eight feet and five inches in length, and increasing at the rate of an inch every half year, sat suspended in the air like a banner.  
  
"I heard the fall.. Are you okay?"  
The boy said nothing, instead moving away a little.. And then, with the innocence of someone his age, he recited;  
"My mommy doesn't like your type. My friend was fine and then she grew wings and wouldn't speak proper no more and I wasn't allowed to see her again."  
~Poor kid.~ Koe had it lucky; the tail was the most prominent part of his jaded existence.. The sword of relief was double-edged, though, as what it had left in body, it had taken in mind. Whenever he thought to himself, it was in raichu. And it wasn't his voice, either. That was something it had taken a while to live with.. But he could speak fine.  
"I'm awful sorry for you and your friend, then.. I suppose if you'd taken a harder knock and couldn't tell what I was, it wouldn't matter so much then, would it.."  
Sigh. He knew that would go nowhere; he was only talking to a young child.. Then again..  
"...uummm..." Of course, he didn't have an answer; rather then do what some did, and disguise the fact, he'd come right out with it.. That would put most adults off what they were going to say next. But it got to the kid slightly, and he ran off, away from the tree.  
~and to think.. the kids adore Pokemon. Or they used to.. but /now/, doing that could prove 'harmful'.. I really hate how things are going for this...~ Oh, but of course.. a lot of the younger ones, who adored their pokemon so.. very often achieved the level needed to cause these 'problems'. But being so young, a little meant a lot more. And some of them never knew what hit them, as they suddenly became mirror-comparable to their favourite pet..  
  
  
---  
  
Truly, a sad state of affairs. None so then he got, walking a little further.. The city was so large from this distance.. it wasn't far at all... And the second sign of life he'd seen since that kid was approaching.. a truck, speeding down the right like someone had filled the gas tank full of steroids, or tossed a lit stick of dynamite in the intake.. Surprisingly, the truck, which he identified as a blue and white pickup, swung to a sideways stop in front of Koe. He looked up at the drivers seat, but didn't look long, as the truck emptied. Five people stood ahead of him.  
~Seem to be the sort of people you get on a lynch mob..~ he thought.. probably right, as well..  
  
"Well.. Hello there, stranger.." one of the guys said. All were burly, large, and the sort of people you might take an aversion to before you even met them. Men's men, the lot of them.. and under their jackets, you could easily envisage 'Drink Beer' shirts..  
  
"You sound pleased to see me.." The tail changed in position, the mirror of what it had been before..  
"Heard you threatened my son for something he said to you. Rather believe him then you, but I want to see what y' got to say about it.." one of the men said.  
~Probably owned the truck, as well. And arranged this nice welcome..~ Koe liked to think.. it's the only thing that kept him calm..  
"Not at all.. He told me what his mommy thought of me, and I replied by guessing what might have happened if he fell from that tree harder, and couldn't see who I was. He wouldn't care so much for my look then, would he.." Koe was interrupted.  
"You better watch yourself while running your mouth, rai.." Family man as well? Somehow, he seemed like he just wanted the excuse..  
"I do, believe me. Now if we've cleared this up, I've had a hefty days walk, and want to reach some place for the night before getting much further--"  
"You know, people round these parts don't like your sort.." said one. Koe snapped back a little, whipping his tail against air, irately.  
"I've heard. Though it shouldn't matter. Not like I was born like this, you know.." Koe had the points all correct. But he didn't have four guys next to him, and he wasn't the one trying to deliberately cause trouble..  
"I've dealt with your type before.." said the man, who had taken a step forward. Koe guessed he didn't mean electricity..  
"They talk a lot.. And we ask them real nice to leave our community and our people alone.. and they reply with all this crap about their 'rights'.. Last I heard, they fully referred to these issues as 'human rights', friend.. Guess you don't cut that line any more, eh?"  
  
---  
  
Things were quiet. Koe couldn't very well say he was as human as any other guy, because he clearly -wasn't-.. But he didn't want a confrontation with these guys right now.. It wasn't the sensible thing to do.. So he just stared them out a while.  
"So.. I recommend you just turn right back where you came from.. Got it?" said someone else..  
Koe shrugged. His tail kicked once. "Actually, I'd rather not."  
  
One of the men clapped, once, sombrely. Then they started advancing on him..  
  
And he just stood there for then, having nothing else to do.  
  
---  
  
  



	2. Kaos

Kaos Kaos  
  
  
  
They weren't armed, at all. They didn't think they'd need it; perhaps their idea of those like him were of confused freaks that knew neither what they were, why they were, or what they should do about it.  
Koe was neither. He wasn't one of the first cases, having only gained a tail on the thirteenth of December, 2004. Today was the second of February, 2006; cases were documented right up from April 2002. And to Koe, these people looked like they'd decided how they dealt with his kind.  
"I tell you what. Enough horsing around. You can turn round and walk. Or you can be carted away in a casket, stiffer then frozen soil on Christmas Eve." This was the guy who's son Koe had supposedly 'threatened'. Koe, however, couldn't care less really. He'd just started thinking of something, and so he said nothing.  
~I wonder why no-one came up with a name for us..~ the rai pondered. He'd never had to refer to it before, but usually if you were to meet people like this, you'd expect them to throw all sorts of derogatory names at you. Here, they just called them 'your kind'. Like they were different. Which they were.  
"Answer me, you damned rat." The King of the Drink Beer gang was getting rather impatient. So, too, was whatever raichu part of Koe's mind was the one that liked a good fight. Koe, however, couldn't care less for it. So, he shrugged once, and then headed off left, towards a path that most likely led somewhere new.  
  
However, the men really were interested in starting trouble. Now he'd gone and refused, they were more annoyed then they were in the first instance.. One of them went back to the truck, to get something..  
~Wait it off for a while, and then I can go around. Either way, I'm getting into this city before nightfall.~ said he to himself. Looking at the sun, it was fairly low in the sky. And that's the last thing he noticed. He heard the whiz through the air, but his hearing not as it might otherwise be, he didn't have any sort of chance to move.  
He examined his arm. Stuck in the side of it, barely piercing, was a yellow shafted dart, with a red plumage.  
~Tranquiliser. Damnit.~  
  
And that was that.  
  
  
---  
  
When he woke up eventually, it was dark. Something rather weird had happened overnight, though. It seems that the sky and the ground became swapped with each other. Seeing a waning moon below him was not an everyday sight.  
Until whatever controlled his balance kicked in, and told him that he was upside down.  
~Well.. This is something most probably don't like to wake up to...~  
He recognised the area. He had been tied to the low tree outside, probably by his legs. Looking up, a pair of light-adjusted eyes could see that indeed, some crudely tied cord was around his legs. And then, suddenly, pain ebbed down his back.. It felt like the skin had been dragged a way..  
~You know, I bet they just tied the cord into a lasso, and dragged me on over here, rather then touch me..~ He sighed, out loud. And he just hung there, swaying ever so slightly, waiting for his sapped strength to slip back, so he could right himself, and set to untying his bindings.  
However, he felt really tired at that point.. The tranquiliser probably knocked him cold for a good number of hours.. So he had a while to wait until morning. His body told him he should be asleep, and so his consciousness quickly faded, as he slipped into an induced sleep once more..  
  
---  
  
It was morning when Koe woke. He was still tired, feeling like he could throw up any second.. He'd ben upside down now for almost half a day. And he just sat there, and swung, while he awoke properly.. But he ended up swinging so much, that something gave up above him, and all of a sudden, the ground was much closer then it had been a second ago.  
"Owch...." Koe shrugged, righting himself to proper stance.. Today obviously was not his day, and his tail agreed with him.. curving in the semilight of early morn like a writhing snake..  
Something else caught his senses.. A smell on the air.. Of burning? He turned an arc, but it didn't take him too long before he caught sight of the sity that, half a day hence, he had looked at, and wondered if it would welcome him.  
  
While he wasn't any sort of expert on matters like this, what was smouldering of the city told him those fires had been raging for several hours. He wasn't quite within it.. but all he could see of it was blackened buildings, the odd lick of flames peeping from within a broken window.. And the smoke, that was settling in the air in the manner of a dense fog..  
~Guess I'm not staying here for tonight then..~ And he continued his arc around, looking for some other way he could travel..  
The endless grasses of the Kanto plain were not things he liked a whole lot.. A couple of large paths were all he had; one which he had come from, and one which went off left. He had started to take this left one, yesterday. There was a third, but Koe didn't feel like traversing the city ablaze..  
  
Something caught his eye. Something white, against the bark of that very tree he'd been hanging from.. With curiosity, he ventured up to it.. and seeing something was etched onto it, he pulled it from its mooring. Before reading, he eyed it. A sharp, yellow, needle.  
"Well, I didn't see this when I was awake last.. So, it's probably meant for me.." he reassured himself, before reading.  
  
--To the raichu that was hanging from this tree  
(~Yep, definitely for me..~ thought he. On he read..);  
The wreckage you see of that city, where they would stand by and see someone be hung up in that manner, sits in flames as this is written. Sorry, but that knot was an annoying one; I think we loosened it a bit, and we didn't want to go too much in case we ended up causing a fall.  
Until we meet again..  
-kaos  
  
"Kaos.." Koe said, out loud.. "Fitting.. perhaps.." His travels around the plains brought with them the rumours of there being numbers of his kind.. that went around, keeping alive, and opposing any bigotism with strong action. "But.. For my sake..? That's wrong.."  
  
Of course, he remembered then, that while travelling yesterday, he'd left his holdall, his supplies, in a bush somewhere, along a line of them that cornered one end of the large area. Why had he done that again..?  
~Because I thought I was being tracked.. They were probably just going the same way I were.. and so I stashed it away..~ Koe thought to himself a while.. and then headed off, back the way he'd come. He needed that holdall.  
  
A while later, and he found it, in the bush where he'd left it. It was a simple black holdall, designed for carrying over one shoulder; it was brown on the inside, and the attachments of the strap to the bag itself were yellow circles, with raichu-ear shaped drapings coming from those. It hadn't been touched, it still contained what it had last time. The contents were simple; five bottles of water, fourteen one-day rations, a map of Kanto, and a compass.  
  
And, tucked away to the left, a red ball, with several turns of black tape around it, keeping it shut. Koe shuddered involuntarily. He then slung the bag over his shoulder, and headed along the line of bushes, going left when it's corner came. He avoided getting back up close to the city then, which he could still see, emitting smoke every so often..  
  
---  
  
The rai followed the path along. A large, wooden post sat at the side of the road, and as he got up to it, he looked at the name. Over the original post, there had been nailed another, lighter, board. And on that was etched; 'Selenia City'.  
  
A quick check by Koe, of his map. He had originally been heading through Celadon, but he couldn't do that any more.. Selenia was a new city, sided off along the route. Koe estimated he could make it there in around a couple of hours.  
  
"No time like the present.." is all he said, as he placed the map back to his holdall, swung the bag back to his shoulder, and continued on.  
  
  
A pair of eyes, skittering across the grasslands, keeping out of sight. It had come across the rai hanging from a tree, and decided to see what it was up to. After watching it go around in circles for a while, he saw some paper be produced, and then he headed off.  
  
A city meant -people-. But it didn't want that just yet. Still, it followed on, just out of curiosity.  
  
  
Or maybe because it had nothing else to do.  
  
  
---  
  
  



	3. A History

A History  
  
  
On the way to Selenia, Koe had nothing to do other then think.. Thoughts about the city were wasted on a subject he knew little about.. So, he could always think about himself..  
~Koe Kimatsu.. The ordinary guy.. born 18th November, 1982. Studied at a pokemon polytech from '92 through to '99.. And hit the road, 2nd June, 2000...~  
Through his travels, Koe had discovered that keeping a sense about him of who he was would keep him from getting lost in that part of him that he wasn't. That part that had always been pokemon instinct, and hadn't been there before the day he went out, in any form..  
  
Koe was a fair-featured person, generally.. or used to be, anyway. He opted for a Pichu as his first when leaving; the Pichu became a Pikachu within a couple of months out on the field.. and before six months were up, was asking Koe to get a thunder stone for him.  
  
He'd named him Daize, after someone he used to know. It seemed fitting, though Koe didn't know why, and didn't endeavour to find out.  
  
Koe never wanted to actually train up pokemon to fight.. what he preferred to do was explore, pokemon helping him as aides, guides, or perhaps in a more direct way.. Over time, he explored a lot of the Kanto plains, and went away in the start of 2002 to Johto.  
  
He first heard of the cases of change while at Kanto. The news was abuzz with news of a 'Persian-human' who had become somewhere in between for reasons no-one knew about at that time.. Koe didn't stay in any place long enough to form an opinion of what people actually felt.. and besides, their opinions changed, so he couldn't pin it down exactly, regardless..  
  
He came back, later in 2003. He ventured home, to Fuchsia City, some time in the last quarter of 2004, before his 22nd birthday. That same quarter was the moment that he wouldn't forget in a hurry.  
  
But he'd reached his destination. How time flew when Koe was delving into his thoughts, and the odd few people that passed his wavering tail a side glance said that the contact of this particular town with his kind was a little lacklustre.  
Though, no-one complained as he located the nearest pokemon centre, and headed inside.  
  
  
---  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Sir, but this facility doesn't offer treatment of your species at current." was the first thing Koe was greeted with.  
He replied, rather curtly, "I'm not here for treatment.. Just to rest up a while, is all.."  
The nurse nodded apologetically, and moved elsewhere. It wasn't immensely busy, but a number of people were here, so he went his way over to a seat in the corner, and sat, bringing his holdall to his lap.  
  
He glanced around. Mostly humans; he saw one changed in the back, with a slightly richer skin colour, and the Chansey-like fronds hanging upwards a slight way, under her hair.  
He also saw a Nidoran male, changed and sitting on the other side of the room; he was only young, perhaps around 12 or so, with a protruding horn and noticeable teeth. Nothing of specific interest, so he rejoined his thoughts again..  
  
~13th December, 2004.. That day went mostly smooth..~ thought he. Yes, he was staying over in his home town throughout his birthday, Xmas, and the coming of the New Year. Koe spent a lot of the time talking about the trip he'd made to Johto earlier in time. And, as ever, Daize sat somewhere near Koe, making the odd raichu noise to accentuate whatever was being said.. and sometimes a flurry, if he was being asked for an opinion. Koe didn't pretend to be a master of raichu speech, but he seemed to know innately what Daize was trying to say.  
  
The thirteenth came. It wasn't a Friday, as some may have hoped. Koe was awake, though, at around 4:30am; he just was unable to sleep any longer, and getting himself dressed, got up out of bed, and ventured downstairs.  
  
He was greeted by an awoken Daize, who seemed to want to go outside.. Koe didn't mind this, and wanted out in the early morning for a while himself. So, the two went out a little way, looking for somewhere they could sit.  
  
  
A brick wall, weathered with age, and mottling all the different hues of red, presented itself as an adequate place. So, the human and his pokemon sat, raichu on the other, and looked up into the horizon, where a sunset had only just begun, and the sky was red, like the wall.  
  
A small wind had blown up. Daize's tail seemed to float in it; a little bit of a trick with letting air flow around it in just the right style. It just occurred to Koe that he knew that style; small tilts of the tail would differ the air a lot..  
  
~Try it..~ Daize had said, somehow..  
  
And so he did. With a tail that materialised suddenly, for the very purpose. Koe just sat there, mouth open, staring through the sunset with vacant eyes, darkened skin, and brown-coloured hair.. transfixed on the nothingness behind it.. While a newly grown tail, after splitting through layers of material, had taken to wavering in the wind, as Daize's had done just seconds sooner.  
  
---  
  
  
Their return to the house was greeted in slightly mute replies.  
"Well.. I guess it's the sign of a good trainer.. eh?" he offered up..  
"..I suppose.." one of his parents had said..  
  
  
---  
  
  
A couple of days later, a group of family members had grouped together. They decided they didn't want to lose any more of Koe to this. And they thought they could do that by removing Daize from existence. It wasn't known then that this would fail, but they tried it anyway.. However, their thoughts as they were, Koe managed to awaken and get downstairs before anything happened.  
  
"You can't kill him, for christ's sake!" he had said, facing a bunch of people, with two guns and a long knife between them..  
"It's for your good, you know.." they had said, and hinted, and driven in to him.. Until, his uncle had come over to tell him up close that nothing was going to happen.. Before pouncing Koe, and rendering him unable to get in the way while the two shots were fired, point blank. He'd shouted out, and fumbling past the uncle, he'd cast forward his pokemon holding ball.. It hit Daize after he'd hit the ground. It made the motions of catching, but the raichu was still lying there, in a pool of his own lifeblood, as the ball rolled off him..  
In steps, the members of the family who had done the deed departed the room. The raichu parts of Koe stilled his tail, for the first and only time in his life.. It hung low, a then seven-and-a-half feet long tail.. They expressed anger.. but the outside, was Koe, who did nothing but weep, for a long while.  
  
  
---  
  
  
Surprising how Koe could think his thoughts and not be affected now.. Whatever he'd caught in that ball, when he picked it up, soon after the room was empty.. it pushed against him, being able to open at any time.. Being of that sort, he thought he might have got something of the supernatural variety.. and not being one to let something like that loose.. he taped up the ball, with strong, black tape. And that's how it had remained, since.  
  
He looked in the bag at it, still now, unmoving, and contained within something that he didn't know what it was.. After he'd got his things together back then, he secretly left without a word.  
~It'd be better for me..~ thought Koe.. And to him now, he'd done the right thing...  
  
  
And then he was all out of thoughts on himself.. so he concentrated on getting rested up; it was a while longer to the town after, if his map was correct.. so he cold wait a while longer...  
  
  
---  
  
  
It had been listening to Koe's thinking.. It had pity, but it was only here to watch, not to act on anything.. Koe was a wanderer, and all the wanderers have their tales and their trials.. it's part of who they are as a whole..  
  
A small girl that was sat next to Koe, turned to him.. and looked at the tail, that wrapped through the gap of the chair, over the back, over his head, and then back a little, and down between his back and the chair..  
"Is that really your tail?" she asked, an innocent question. Her mother, a staunch figure of middle age, waiting for someone to finish up with their pokemon treatment, turned to the girl..  
"Why dear.. That's not the sort of thing you're supposed to ask like that.."  
"Be assured, it's not a problem.." Koe remarked.. "Yes, it's my own.."  
"How did you get it?" asked she. Obviously she was not as well versed on history as some others were.  
"Uh.. well, you could say that I got it.. by being a good trainer to my pokemon at the time.."  
"So if I did that, I could have one as well?" she asked. ~Cute child..~ thought he. Her mother turned, "Now, you know what I've said about that.. Put thoughts like that out of your head, dear.."  
"Shouldn't she be free to choose how she likes..?" asked Koe, looking across the room.  
"Oh.. no offence, pardon.. but honestly, she's young, and I don't want her to do something she might later dislike.." she said, in a contemptuous manner. Koe sneered at her, but only to himself, inwardly.. and continued getting the ebbs of his energy back.. all the while thinking what he might be able to do if he tried..  
  
Well.. it isn't like he had anything else to do right then. But he wouldn't do that. Oh no.  
  
  
---  
  
  



	4. It Goes On

It Goes On  
  
  
It was a while later when Koe opted to leave the centre. Walking a little way down the road, or rather the pavement, which smelled rather ominously of linseed. It was quiet out, the scent of flowers and smog and city was on the air, and everything was fine. However, Koe needed to stop and eat soon, so he flicked out his map, and looked for a decent place he could stay. He had food for a good two or so weeks, so that was fine.  
  
That same pair of eyes that had followed Koe went, in his absence, into the centre, still a way back up the road. The eyes belonged to a fairly young Eevee, who had trailed the rai-person for this far, and not known why. One thing she did know - the Eevee was female - was that he'd been here, and was sat right.. over..  
  
The girl eyed the Eevee as it hopped up onto the seat which Koe had vacated not five minutes prior to that time. Parts of its fur was dark and light.. the creature was up for the day and for the night, and was perhaps close to evolving, though it was all to be by chance which of its natural successors it was to assume the form of.  
  
The Eevee eyed back. Her eyes were around as cool and black as a crystalline piece of coal. And for a brief moment, she wondered what it would be like to see through eyes like that. Then she blinked. And she found out.  
  
"Don't see many of those about nowadays.. Count yourself lucky." the mother said to her child.  
"Oh.. I think she was looking for /me/, actually." said the girl, turning back to look at her mother. With eyes as cool and black as the pokemon next to her. To every detail. The mother had to look away.  
"Don't you ever listen to what I say..?" was all she could mutter. While thinking of that damned rai.  
"I can't hear what you're saying." said the girl, who glanced back at the Eevee.. She had ears that could hear.. Perhaps if mother had a problem with her listening..  
She felt the ears grow. It was a weird sensation, but being of so young an age, it was not surprising. She giggled instead. This spontaneous change had got the attention of almost everyone in the place.  
"Oh god.." was all the mother could say. "It has something to do with him that was in before! We could -all- end up like this if we're not careful?"  
The Chansey in the back piped up. "And what exactly is so bad about that?" She was a fair gal, of about seventeen; pokemon-like kindliness mixed with teenage hormones was not a match made in heaven, that was for sure.  
"Oh, be quiet, you stupid freak." said the guy sitting a few seats away. It might be a surprise to know that the two were dating not six months prior to this day. Then again, perhaps it won't be..  
"I think I know why I broke up with you now. Narrow minded crap-for-brains." she mumbled to herself.  
"Careful with the language.. We do have young children in here you know..." said the mother, from before.  
"Nope. All I see sitting next to you are two eevees." That was wrong, the girl had not become any further changed then eyes and ears.. But it did signify something.  
"I say we get rid of that rai-person. He's the only stranger in town right now, and we haven't had a case of this sort of thing in almost half a year..."  
"Oh, leave it.. They're all fated anyway." said the guy that used to date the Chansey.  
"Well, fine with you then." said the woman, who got up and stormed out. Leaving behind the young girl, who by that time had the beginnings of a tail, and had started chattering to the eevee next to her. In a language it could actually understand.  
  
  
Koe knew nothing of these little occurrences. Indeed, by then, he was halfway between where he'd been standing, and a picnic area, perhaps a good mile or so away from where he was. Surprisingly, his disposition had given him little in the way of rodentine tricks, such as speed, or dexterity, or whatever else.. He was as fast as he'd always been, and about as nimble as a guy with a tail can be. Which might not have said much.  
The path to the picnic area took him through a bit of dense forest.. it surprised Koe that a path from a city would lead to somewhere like here. It wasn't on the map, that much he knew...  
...and then suddenly the forest cleared. But Koe wasn't at Selenia any more. The grassland was clear, and from where he was, he could see a small village, not too far away. But it was mostly in ruin. Earth was dug up, buildings were on fire.. As Koe watched, perhaps the only remaining awning, over a small shop, was completely swallowed by flames. Koe was on hand.. and being the wanderer he was, he started to approach the cluster of buildings. He didn't have his bag with him, that much he noticed. Each walk was different somehow, too.. He knew the basic things, how he walked, what it felt like.. But this was just Wrong, capital letter included, a sort of obvious mistake. And then he looked down. At a lower half that was more raichu then it ought to be. Fine orange-brown fur was the length and breadth of both legs.. One thing that told him he wasn't supposed to be here was that his tail, a good foot or two shorter then when he last had known it, was hanging down, barely kept off the floor. It felt right.. but it didn't feel Right. This was someone else. So, what was he doing here?  
  
Approaching the buildings.. some bits of brick were charred to high heaven, and were just crumbling.. A movement of air caught his attention, and almost leaping back, he felt his ears kick against the side of his head. But the sight he saw was more then enough to distract him. It resembled the dragons of folklore.. but it clearly wasn't one of those, because it was more to a human shape then otherwise. Two thick, green fronted wings, moved once, and carried it a great distance. Trunk-like arms and legs wavered a fraction.. and a heavily built tail dotted with a lick of fire gave Koe as much recognition as he needed. A Charizard. But indeed, it was the size of a human in bodily respects.. He felt sure that something was very wrong.  
~( Uh.. Hayley? You okay? Where'd you get to? )~ Koe heard voices speaking.. They weren't calling him, so instead he just continued watching the Charizard-something above.. When a stout hand came down on his shoulder, and he spun around. The sudden movement caused things to blur. It was this that gave him the realization that this wasn't him. So could it very well be that..  
~( Wow.. You seem very uptight right now.. Something wrong? )~ The voice belonged to a figure ahead of him. It was a shade of lilac with a rather obvious horn, that looked pretty sharp. The end of it was flecked with something red.. Koe didn't question that. The ears were quite large, but grew out from the place where you'd expect to find human ears on the head... Seemed like a Nidorino to him.  
~( Be quiet, Kai. )~ said another voice. Koe.. or Hayley?.. turned to the new voice. The new figure, she was a curious shade of purple, with two tails that were crossing and uncrossing regularly. The centre of the forehead sported a jewel, and once again, the ears had their base almost directly aside of the eyes. They were long, and alike to an Eevee. So this must have been an Efui. Or an Espeon, same thing really.  
~( Why should I? )~ The Nido was indignant.  
~( Because something has hold of her mind, you oaf. You could go out and say something we'll all regret, depending on who it's working for. )~  
~( I... )~ The feminine voice was definitely what Koe was trying to say. She hesitated on that word.  
~( Let me try. )~ The catlike eevee walked up to the raichu. A quick movement, and she had hold of her pawhand. A short silence.. and Koe felt something else going on. ~( Raichu. What business do you have inside of this female's mind? )~  
~( You can even tell -what- it is that's doing this? )~ the Nido said, slightly hysterical. ~( How do I know it's not you doing this?! )~  
Two firm pawhands clamped on the Nido's shoulders. The Charizard was a lot bigger close up then he was in the air. ~( I was listening to you witter on. Calm, I trust she knows what she is talking about. )~  
Silence returned. Koe realized they were expecting an answer from him.  
~( I.. don't know.. how I got here. I don't.. even know.. where -here- actually is.. )~ said Koe. He didn't like his speech sounding flowery.. but it felt right to a degree. But it was Wrong, to the larger degree, and he respected this. So he was telling the truth.  
~( It's lying. )~ said the Nido. ~( I didn't even know non psychics could take someone like that. Not without help, anyway.. Who's helping you? )~  
~( I said hush! I'd know if he was lying. )~ said the Efui, curtly.  
~( You know this thing's gender as well..? )~ asked the gruff-voiced figure of the Charizard, who still had the Nido clamped by the shoulders.  
~( Yes. It's a Raichu, male, and.. )~ Pause. ~( ...I know him. We've seen this one before. )~  
Koe's thoughts jumped a little there. And he spoke again; ~( There should be.. a Jolteon.. with you. )~  
The Charizard and the Nido murmured between each other. Koe couldn't make it out.  
~( You'd know that because he left a needle with you, wouldn't you? )~ she asked,  
~( I was hanging.. from a tree.. )~  
The Efui snapped her fingers. ~( That's right, that's right.. So, I ask again. Raichu, what business do you have inside this female's mind? )~  
~( I don't.. have any. I didn't.. try to put myself here. I was walking. Then I was here. That's all.. I know. )~  
Koe felt the sensation of tripping, even though he wasn't going anywhere. He closed his eyes.. and fell to the floor...  
  
...and landed on his bag, breaking the fall a little. Staring up at a sky where it was around dusk. Thinking aloud, Koe could only ask the night one thing.  
"What the hell was that?"  
  
  
~( He went. Hayley's back now. )~ said the Efui, releasing her hold, as the female raichu pulled the same hand up to her head.  
~( ..what was that? )~ she asked, wearily..  
~( Relax, dear. You've been pretty much asleep for a while. Give it some time. )~ said the purple cat, walking in a predetermined direction. ~( I'm going to find Mog. Tell him what's occurred here. That Jolt is never around when you want him.. )~ Then she stopped, and turned. ~( And Blaze, you can let go now. )~  
The Charizard complied, before taking off again.. just to continue what he was doing beforehand; flaming the hell out of some trees.  
Meanwhile, Hayley and Kai had sat down, on the floor.. Hayley was still rubbing her head..  
~( I feel like something just ran over my head.. )~ said the raifemme, with honesty.  
~( Well, love.. Fetch is not the most gentle feline you're ever going to come across. At least she got you back, anyway. )~  
~( Back? From where? )~ asked Hayley, a little quizzical.  
~( If you're back, you're back. Does it matter how? )~ said Kai. The two then embraced, Hayley looping her tail about the two as best she could. As per always.  
  
Fetch mused to herself, as she followed the faint thought patterns indicative of the changed Jolteon named Mog. She knew he wasn't lying before.. that one who went into Hayley.. But he was quite sure that not even she could do that for so long over such a distance. He didn't even know any names, or places, or anything.. So how could his consciousness just materialize into there like that?  
{ Something else is at work here. } thought the psychic. { It might be following him. I want to find whatever that thing is. It could prove useful if it was controllable.. }  
She grinned to herself. Kaos, their team of five, was as strong as it needed to be. Five fully Changed morphs with a common goal.. strike terror across Kanto. Maybe this thing could let her take it one step further.  
  
She wanted to find the first Changed, though, as well. Persian female. So they had two targets. She might as well stop with the mindless city-destroying and get to important things like this.  
{ I think we've made our point about terror here.. So, yeah, why not. I'll spend tonight trying to lock onto him, first. Shouldn't be too hard. }  
Then, she mumbled. Mog had moved location again.  
{ Screw walking.. } she said. Before just disappearing.  
  
After all, there was nothing else she'd rather do. Was there?  
  
--  
  
  
Is Fetch's theory about an unseen force actually true? Does Koe have this ability innately? Is there any point to the psychic finding her two targets? Are these questions getting to be really annoying?  
Find out these answers (maybe.. some of then just need a good guess :P) next time. Hopefully. 


End file.
